


Rootless Tree

by theoriginalcheeesecake



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Human, Human AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:41:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27894733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoriginalcheeesecake/pseuds/theoriginalcheeesecake
Summary: Caroline and Klaus connect over a song.
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wrote this ages ago for a Klaroline fandom event on Tumblr! Hope you enjoy. Just a couple of sweet, all human, interactions between the two.

Caroline Forbes was left to her own devices a lot.

Of course she was.

She was the only child to the recently single town sheriff. It meant for many cold mornings being ushered out of the house very early, so Liz Forbes could be at work on time, and many long afternoons, quietly doing her homework in the police station.

Caroline didn’t mind though, because she loved her mother.

But it meant when Rebekah Mikaelson, the newest member of Caroline’s class, asked her if she wanted to come over to play at her house one afternoon only a few weeks after moving to Mystic Falls, Caroline eagerly accepted. 

Caroline was happily welcomed into the large family. She met some of Rebekah’s brothers, Kol and Henrik, and immediately joined the Mikaelsons in their afternoon business. Caroline was beyond happy to not be couped up at her mom’s work, and to have found a new friend who was her friend first.

Later than evening, when the sheriff finally made it to the Mikaelson house to pick Caroline up, Liz apologised profusely for Caroline inviting herself over, and for how late she was to pick her daughter up.

“Oh don’t be silly, Liz! Caroline is a true delight,” Esther, Rebekah’s mother, had said, jovially. “Not only is she more polite than _any_ of my lot, she also cleaned up after herself, and kept my three youngest from fighting _all afternoon!_ What a gift.”

Liz had been quite chuffed to hear such nice words about her daughter.

“Well, thank you for having Caroline, Esther!” Liz replied.

“Would you like us a mind her here during the week? I heard about your husband, and to manage it all must be difficult with a young daughter. The girls seem to get on really well, and it’s nice to see Rebekah with someone much more like her, rather than her noisy brothers. So it would be wins all round, really.”

Liz’s eyes had widened; she couldn’t possibly put that burden on another mother. But then she heard Caroline laughing joyfully in the house, and that was much nicer the subdued Caroline who would otherwise be sitting quietly in a police station half her life.

“That would be amazing.”

And from that moment on, Caroline was a permanent fixture in the Mikaelson household. Wednesday through Friday, Caroline would be packed in with the youngest Mikaelsons for afterschool adventures she would remember for the rest of her life.

Which brought her to that day, where she was having one such adventure, though it wasn’t only memorable for good reasons.

For this particularly afternoon, over a year after Caroline and Rebekah met, Caroline suggested that she, Beks, Kol, and Henrik, build a blanket fort in the play room.

The idea went off without a hitch, and the fort was really coming along, until Henrik forcefully pushed at Kol for encroaching on ‘his territory’, which had, in turn, seen Kol knocking into Rebekah, who the subsequently fell into one of the pillars keeping the fort fixed in place.

And the thing about children was, the used all available materials to serve their purposes, regardless of occupational health and safety hazards.

In this instance, a pile of heavy books was used to hold up the fort. Thus, a heavy pile of books crashed on the heads of Kol and Rebekah.

The two children screamed in pain and fear, now not only having books crashing on their heads, but because they were tangled in blankets and sheets as well.

Esther came rushing in to see the split forehead and split lip of two of her children, another child sobbing, and her daughter’s best friend looking terrified, trying to calm the others, and desperately trying to keep her own tears to herself.

“Niklaus! Elijah!” Esther roared, summoning two of her much elder boys to the room. “Elijah, get Kol and Rebekah into the car, they will need to visit the emergency room. Then come back to calm Henrik. Niklaus, you will take Caroline back to her house and will wait with her until her mother arrives home from work. Okay?”

Elijah jumped into action, but Klaus, who was not known for his subordination skills, said, “No! It’s not okay! I am not home to babysit Rebekah’s little friends, mother!”

Klaus should have known by now which battles to pick, because his mother was suddenly brimming with rage at her third son for having the audacity to defy her in that moment.

“You will do as I say, Niklaus, or I will rain _hellfire_ down on you. And so help me god, you will be kind to that girl, she is the best friend of three of your siblings and I will _not_ have your abrasive personality scaring her away!”

Knowing she had him beat, it was Esther’s turn to jump into action.

“Caroline, sweetie, I have to take Rebekah and Kol to the hospital, just to check they’re all okay. Klaus here will take you home. I will call your mother and let her know to go straight home, okay?”

“Okay,” Caroline said, unshed tears still swimming in her eyes. “I’m sorry Mrs Mikaelson.”

Esther gave Caroline a quick, reassuring hug, before dashing from the room after Elijah.

The room was now in relative calm, since the wailing Henrik had followed his mother, Klaus looked at Caroline, who looked sadly back at him.

“I didn’t think anyone would get hurt,” she said, her lip wobbling.

“Come on,” Klaus said, awkwardly, not really knowing how to comfort her. “Let’s get your things.”

Caroline silently retrieved her school bag and shoes, then hovered by the front door waiting for Klaus to come back.

Caroline didn’t know much about Klaus. She knew he was Rebekah’s favourite brother, but Rebekah had never really said why. He had never lived in Mystic Falls, because he started college a long way away when the rest of the Mikaelsons had moved there. And even though she was only eleven, Caroline knew he was very handsome, and it was off-putting, because she didn’t know what to do with that feeling.

“Let’s go,” he said, striding past her.

Caroline scampered after him before stopping dead in her tracks, because Klaus was getting into the most impressive car Caroline had ever seen.

Normally, Esther would drive around in a very stately looking SUV, and if Elijah was home, he drove them in a very plain sedan.

But _this_ was hardly a car, it was a work of art.

“This is your car?” Caroline squeaked, going bright red.

“Yes it is, sweetheart,” Klaus smirked. “It is a 1978 Chevrolet Corvette.”

“It’s – it’s so...” Caroline stammered, trying to find a good word to describe what she was feeling. “Fancy!”

“It’s fancy indeed, love,” Klaus said, throwing her a wink. “That’s why I drive it. Ladies love being driven around in cars like this.”

“Right,” Caroline said, a little confused. “But why would ladies like being driven around, going driving is boring. My dad likes old cars, and used to take me on drives before he left, and I used to just feel a bit sick.”

“Right you are, Caroline,” Klaus said, chuckling a little. “Sit up front, you won’t feel so sick.”

Caroline nodded and climbed into the car, careful to brush her shoes off before putting them inside, like her dad used to make her do. The motion wasn’t unnoticed by Klaus, and he appreciated the gesture.

As Klaus started driving, music began playing through the car’s speakers, picking up where it stopped Klaus’ last journey.

_What I want from us is empty our minds_

He noticed Caroline curiously looking around at all the bits and bobs that were different about this car than other ones she had been in.

_But we fake, we fuss and fracture the times_

Klaus didn’t know Caroline all that well, obviously, she was eleven, but she seemed a lot more reserved with him than he had seen her be with her siblings. Which was different from how Rebekah was, always the same loud attention commanding presence no matter who she was with.

_We go blind when we needed to see_

While looking out the window, Caroline tuned in to listen to the song. It wasn’t one she knew, she didn’t even think she knew who was singing, but it was nice. The man’s voice was very different from the other singers she knew.

_And this leans on me like a rootless_

It was a funny song, Caroline couldn’t really understand what the words meant, but it seemed to fit with how Klaus was.

_Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you_

Caroline’s eyes bugged out.

_And all we've been through_

She couldn’t believe what she just heard! How could anyone so loudly curse like that!

_I said leave it, leave it, leave it_

She looked at Klaus, her eyes still wide with shock. He just smirked at her.

_It's nothing to you_

“Anything the matter, love?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“That man on the radio just said… _the F word_!” Caroline exclaimed, whispering the last part of the sentence, just in case.

“He did. What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s _the F word_ , Klaus!” she cried, a little indignantly. “It’s not a good word!”

“It’s just a word, Caroline,” Klaus said, a grin still in his voice, though his face tried to remain serious. “Words only mean what we let them mean.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

Though, he was saved from explaining complex ideas of nuance and semantics to a child, as they pulled up at her house.

Even though she was still a little bit struck by the appearance of _the F word_ , Caroline skipped quickly from the car.

It was already dark, so Caroline struggled a little to get her key into the lock, until Klaus came over and used his phone to flash some light for her.

“Thank you,” she murmured, finally managing to open the door.

Klaus followed her into her home, and looked around curiously.

As a child who came from almost endless wealth, he often had to remind himself that not everyone did. And it was certainly interesting to see Caroline’s humble home, knowing just how cavernous, and extravagant his family’s home was.

“You don’t have to stay,” Caroline said, once she’d set down her bag in the kitchen and turned some lights on. “I can stay by myself until mom finishes work.”

“My mother told me to stay until your mother was home.”

“I know, I heard her say that,” Caroline said, plonking herself in the middle of her couch. “But I know you don’t want to, so you don’t have to. I’ve stayed home alone before.”

Klaus furrowed his brow, he honestly didn’t really want to stay. No nineteen-year-old wanted to babysit his eleven-year-old sister’s best friend. But, Klaus sighed to himself, if his mother found out, he would be skinned alive. And, if he was deeply honest with himself, if the situation were reversed, Klaus would want someone to wait with Rebekah, even if she was somewhat okay on her own.

“It’s not a problem, love,” Klaus said. “But just wait here a moment.”

Klaus walked back through the front door, and returned a minute later, a CD in his hand.

“Why don’t we listen to this while we wait,” he asked, showing her the album cover. “Do you have a CD player?”

“Yep!” Caroline said, before jumping from the couch and scampering away to fetch her player from her room.

“Is this what we were listening to in the car?” Caroline asked, after the music began to play, and a familiar voice started singing.

“Indeed, his name is Damien Rice.”

“Damien Rice,” Caroline said, moving the words around her mouth. “I like his voice.”

“As do I love, but his magic is in his lyrics.”

Caroline wasn’t really sure what Klaus meant, she never really listened to the words in songs much, but she modelled his behaviour and just listened, trying to make sense of the words.

“Oh!” Caroline exclaimed, as the next song began to play, jumping up from the couch again, and hurrying into the attached kitchen. “I didn’t offer you anything! Would you like some water, or a lemonade or something? I think we have some pizza in the fridge if you’re hungry!”

“It’s fine, love,” Klaus said, chuckling at her stress at forgetting her manners. “I’m okay.”

“You have to have _something_!” Caroline pushed. “I’m going to have some lemonade.”

“Okay then,” he responded. “I’ll have a lemonade too, sweetheart.”

Caroline retrieved two cans of lemonade, and brought them over, though her brow was wrinkled, as though deep in thought.

“Klaus, why do you call me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘love’?” she asked, curiously. “I thought sweethearts were people who were in love. And, no offence, but I’m not in love with you.”

“I’m not in love with you either, Caroline. No offence,” he replied. “I’m not sure why I say it, just a habit. It’s like when my mother calls you ‘sweetie’, it’s just a different pet name.”

“Hmm, okay,” she said, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

She immediately went back to listening to the music, and Klaus was quite surprised she was listening so intently. He thought she would get bored, or restless and find colouring or something to do.

He had tried listening to this album with all of his siblings, because sharing music was something they did as a family, but none of them had taken much of a liking to it.

“I really like this one,” Caroline said, then they got to the track _Coconut Skins_. “I feel like I can dance to it!”

She pranced around the room for a few moments to the beat of the song, and he, once again, couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

Though a serious expression over took over her face after another couple of minutes, and she looked at him, with those wide, blue eyes.

“Klaus, can I ask you something.”

“Fire away.”

“Do you think Beks and Kol will ever talk to me again?” she asked, her brow furrowing very deeply, her whole face twisting with concern. “If I hadn’t suggested building a fort, they never would have got hurt.”

“Look, love, it wasn’t your fault,” he replied. “Sometimes accidents happen, and sometimes things happen because we make a choice. But I don’t think Beks or Kol will hold it against you.”

“But mom said it wasn’t my fault that dad left, and he still doesn’t really talk to me,” Caroline whispered, as though telling him her darkest secret that she’d never told anyone. “And he left over a year ago! Do you think it will take a year for Beks and Kol to forgive me?”

Klaus frowned, not really sure what to say – _sure,_ he was the older brother to three much younger siblings, but that didn’t mean he was in the business of dispensing life advice all that often. And this seemed like the kind of question that would have an affect on her life if he answered incorrectly.

“Caroline, I’m sure Beks and Kol will forgive you faster than a year,” Klaus said, feeling a weight of responsibility, to not wanting tear down the shaky emotional walls children construct for themselves as they begin to make their way in the world. “As for your dad, I’m not sure what to say. Sometimes with adults, families especially, things are harder to understand, especially when you’re young.”

“Right,” Caroline said slowly, trying to find the right box for his words in her mind.

She was still thinking very visibly when the front door open, and Liz Forbes strode through the door a few minutes later.

“Mommy!” Caroline called, racing from her spot next to Klaus, to launch herself at her mom.

“Hello sweetie,” she said, hugging her daughter back. “Sounds like you had quite the eventful day!”

“Uh huh, I did, mom, I hope Beks and Kol don’t hate me forever!”

“They won’t, honey, they won’t, in fact, when I spoke to Esther on the phone, Rebekah asked if she could come over and play here sometime over the weekend, does that sounds good?”

Caroline nodded into her mother’s chest, relief rushing through her body, while Liz’s attention turned to Klaus.

“Klaus, I can’t thank you enough for minding Caroline tonight,” she gushed. “I hope she wasn’t too much.”

“Not at all,” Klaus said, pleasantly. “She even offered me a lemonade and some pizza.”

“Very good manners, sweetie,” Liz praised her daughter. “Is there anything I can do for you, Klaus? Order a pizza to your house, or something?”

“Unnecessary, Sheriff,” he replied. “It was my pleasure. But I best be off, mother will likely want some help with everything tonight, after all the excitement.”

“Of course,” Liz said. “Let Esther know that if she needs anything, don’t hesitate to ask! Thanks again.”

“Bye, Klaus,” Caroline said, once again a little shy as she had been earlier that day. “Thanks for looking after me.”

“Not a problem, love,” he replied. “Have a good weekend.”

“Bye!”

“Bye!”

Klaus was off through the door, when Caroline noticed the music still playing.

“Klaus, wait!” she called, opening the door to rush after him. “Your CD in my player.”

“Keep it, sweetheart,” he said, throwing her a smirk. “I have another copy. Besides, have to let a fellow Damien Rice fan listen to his music, right?”

“Right!” she squealed excitedly. “Thank you, _thank you!_ ”

She scampered to him, and gave him a quick but tight hug, before hurrying back inside to tell her mom, exactly how cool she thought Klaus was.

Klaus smiled genuinely as he hopped back into his car, feeling quite fulfilled. For a task he had been so not keen on, it turned out to be quite the wholesome experience.

One he would remember for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

_Fifteen Years Later_

Klaus was in a bar. It wasn’t a particularly uncommon occurrence for him, but he usually wasn’t completely alone, as he was that day.

He finished work, some meaningless hours before, and joined a couple of colleagues for an after work drink.

When they left for their homes, he stayed; waiting at his home was more of the same melancholy loneliness that had been nipping at his insides for a few months now.

He wasn’t there to drown his sorrows, by any means; he wasn’t particularly sorrowful for anything. Nor had he been having a rough trot of it. But the fact of the matter was he was staring down the barrel of thirty-five, and he wasn’t all together too sure what he had to show for it.

He had a family and group of friends who loved him – he was _lucky._ A well-paying, rewarding job – better than many around him. A house – check. With a mortgage – double check.

He had nearly all of the things a thirty-five-year-old _should_ have, he supposed.

But Klaus was not a naïve man. He knew for all his bluster over the years about singlehood, he did want someone to share his life with.

His baby sister was to be married in a few months, and then it would be just him and his 21-year-old brother who were unmarried. Even _Kol_ was tied by the ring finger to someone, and he barely stood still long enough to brush his teeth.

And it was _fine_ , of course it was fine, but on that day, in that moment, Klaus knew he wanted something more.

Something real.

As he called for another drink, a smattering of applause broke his concentration on his own plight.

About an hour before, a folk singer and her guitar had become the soundtrack to Klaus’ musings. She really did have a beautiful voice, and the few lyrics he tuned in to hear were quite meaningful. Though he couldn’t see her, closeted away in a dark booth as he was.

She began speaking softly to the audience after the clapping was silent again.

“This will be my last song…” she said, a little nervously. “It was written by a truly incredible songwriter, and I strive daily to craft stories, and weave emotions the way he does.”

Klaus took a sip, and decided to tune in fully for the final song.

“I’ve been really feeling this lately,” she continued. “A lot has been happening in my life, and this song… really grounds me. Maybe because I heard it for the first time when I was still very young. Maybe because it has the kind of energy I want to convey. Maybe just because it expresses how I’m feeling. Anyway… here it is.”

The woman began to pluck her guitar strings in an effortless rhythm, and familiar notes washed into Klaus’ ears, and he could hardly believe it.

_What I want from you, is empty your head_

He grabbed his beer and left his booth.

_But they say, be true, don’t stain your bed_

He settled on a stool by the bar, and had a clear line of vision to the source of the voice.

_And we do what we need to be free_

_And it leans on me, like a rootless tree_

Klaus watched saw the light crease in the woman’s forehead as she sang through the words, and he could tell she deeply connected with what she was singing.

_What I want from us, is empty our minds_

He watched her fingers pick furiously, though noted how her eyes remained firmly closed the whole time. He wondered just how many times she played that song, to be so comfortable with it that she didn’t need to ever look at what she was doing.

_But we fake, we fuss and fracture the times_

Her voice was truly remarkable, Klaus thought, and he wished he paid more attention to her earlier in her set. 

_We go blind when we needed to see_

_And this leans on me like a rootless_

She shook her head from side to side as she played, causing her bob-length blonde hair dance around her face in such and enchanting way.

_Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and all we’ve been through_

The harsh words falling from her lips didn’t seem as wrong as he thought they might, for once again, he was struck with the emotion she was weaving into the song.

_I said leave it, leave it, leave it, it’s nothing to you_

He gazed on her face, still transfixed by the small crease in her brow that he noticed earlier. It signalled to him that she felt the song in the same way he did.

_And if you hate me, hate me, hate me, hate me so good_

It was almost liberating to know _someone_ understood it. Someone knew what he felt so many times.

_That you just let me out, let me out, let me out it’s hell what you’re around_

Klaus listened in a trance for the remainder of the song, and couldn’t help but stand to applaud her when she finished.

“Thanks for coming, have a good night now,” she said, almost abashed into the microphone, before leaving the stage.

Klaus sat back down, feeling strangely empty.

He had gone to the bar that day to feel connected to something, and he found that connection. For it to be so fleeting, and for it to be now _over_ …

He turned his back on the now empty stool where she once sat, opting instead of stare into his beer despondently.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting that way when he heard a soft voice order a glass of wine next to him. The voice was familiar enough for Klaus to glace up.

It was her.

He gave her a smile, one which she returned almost slyly.

He was a little taken aback, she had seemed far too demure to _slyly_ smile at him.

“Well, fancy seeing you here,” she said, and Klaus was suddenly awash with dread. Was he supposed to know her?

“I don’t know love, I’d say the same about you,” he said, cockily, hoping if he blustered through confidently enough he could give himself time to place her face. It was familiar, now he saw her up close he could see that, but didn’t know why.

She let out a tinkling laugh in response to his comment.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” she giggled, her whole face alight.

“Is it that obviously,” he replied, grinning sheepishly.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I think the last time we spoke I was like eleven, you played me Rootless Tree in your 1970-something Corvette!”

“Caroline?” he asked.

She nodded kindly, and took her place on the stool next to him.

“Has it honestly been fifteen years since I spoke to you?” Klaus said, bemused.

“Pretty much,” she replied.

“Time really does have a way of getting away from us all, doesn’t it?”

He tried to say it without the wistfulness he felt, but didn’t quite manage it.

“It sure does,” she replied, and Klaus was comforted to hear she too sounded wistful.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, taking sips from their drinks, lost in their own thoughts.

“What have you been doing with yourself these past fifteen years, Mr Mikaelson?” she asked, pulling his mind away from more sombre things.

From there, the two of them began chatting away, as though they were old friends. Which really was at odds with what they really were – which was barely more than a much older brother who met his much younger sister’s friend once over a decade ago.

He shared everything from why he chose to go to law school in London, to his favourite breakfast cereal, all the way to the existential dread he had been dealing with over the past few months. She in turn told him about her career, her music, her fears of the future and everything in between.

Klaus had forgotten that, yes, it could just be instantly easy with someone. That someone could actually fully capture his attention.

He wasn’t sure what he would do when she inevitably had to go. No matter how much it felt like there was no world beyond them, the hours had marched on. How could he go back to a world where he wouldn’t see her.

“So will I see you at Bekah’s wedding?” he asked, hopefully.

Maybe she would be there, and they would dance. He could hold her, whisper into her ear, and everything would feel alright, just like it did now.

But, Caroline stiffened, her contentment dissipating, causing his heart to sink.

“I’ve been invited,” she said, simply.

Klaus turned his body so he could study her face. It was truly beautiful, but had well-covered sadness suddenly pinching at the corners of the mouth.

“Will you attend?” he probed.

She looked down into the depths her wine glass, taking a moment to answer.

“Bekah and I aren’t really as close anymore,” she said, carefully, still maintaining eye-contact with her wine glass. “I haven’t spoken to her much in the last few years.”

“Oh, really,” Klaus said. “I wasn’t aware.”

He supposed he had lived away from his family for a very long time, and of course people changed. But it stung somewhat that things couldn’t be easy, just this once.

“The two of you always seemed so close, and she and Stefan still talk about your college days often… I just assumed.”

Klaus caught an infinitesimal flinch on Caroline’s face as he mentioned Stefan, and suddenly wondered whether it was less of a losing touch between two friends, and more of a rift.

“Oh you know, life happens,” she replied, vaguely. “I feel as though I’m a bit of an obligation-invite. So I guess we’ll see how I feel on the date of RSVP.”

Caroline let out a tinkling laugh, and downed the rest of her wine, making a move to stand up.

“I better get going anyway,” she said, and it was Klaus’ turn to flinch, as he wished he never mentioned Rebekah, and that their moments together could continue. “Early morning.”

“Same here, love,” he replied, disappointment niggling at his insides.

She placed her hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze.

“It was really nice to see you, Klaus,” she said earnestly. “You gave me such an important gift back then. My music can be linked so strongly back to that car ride with you. And I think my life would look a whole lot different without it. Bye for now.”

He smiled at her, the kind of genuine smile he didn’t know whether he still had.

Their eyes locked, and for the most fleeting of moments, Klaus’ heart filled and his mind flashed through the life he could have with Caroline if things had been different, if she wasn’t his little sister’s friend, if he didn’t feel like his best years were gone, if they could be in the same place at the same time. 

“I hope to see you around, Caroline.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the song xx   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25cO4K4kHpE


End file.
